ABERDEEN — That sigh of relief heard on the North Olympic Peninsula last weekend was the elite Wilder Senior Babe Ruth Baseball program winning its first three games of the year.
Wilder Baseball, now 3-5 on the season, ripped Aberdeen for a three-game sweep at Pioneer Park.
North Olympic Peninsula-based Wilder — with players representing most high school teams in the area — blasted Aberdeen 8-4 and 14-1 in a Saturday doubleheader, then turned around and pounded the host team 9-1 on Sunday.
Wilder had three easy wins despite having only 12 players suited up for the weekend.
Injury, illness
Port Townsend’s Ryan Aumock is fighting an illness while Brian Senf of Port Angeles has a back problem while the team is waiting for one of the top players for Sequim to turn out.
Wilder will be an extra man short for this weekend’s tournament in Salem, Ore., because right fielder Derek Crain of Port Angeles will miss the tourney while taking a class trip to Puerto Rico.
“We will miss Derek because he played great defense this past weekend against Aberdeen,” Wilder coach Rob Merritt said.
Solid defense (only four errors and they all came in the first game), strong hitting and outstanding pitching put Wilder in the win column this past weekend.
“Pitching was a huge key for us,” Merritt said.
“We walked just three guys all weekend.”
A.J. Konopaski started it off with a complete-game seven-inning win in Saturday’s first game.
Scoring early in the games was another key.
In the first five games of the year, all losses, Wilder dug deep holes for itself.
“We talked about how when you build yourself a hole, you have to play cautious to get yourself out of the hole,” Merritt said.
Wilder, though, scored at least five runs in the first two innings of all three games this past weekend.
“Because we had the early lead, we were aggressive,” Merritt said.
“We bunted well and we moved runners up in four out of five hit-and-runs.”
That winning streak came at the right time because Wilder will have its hands full in the eight-team Salem, Ore., American Legion tournament that starts Thursday and ends Sunday.
“It is a very tough tournament,” Merritt said.
Last year Wilder beat the host team when Wilder was put in the same pool as Salem.
This time around Salem is in the opposite pool while Wilder’s division is like a rattlesnake pit with some of the top teams in the region.
The area team opens play Thursday against Bellingham at 4 p.m.
“Bellingham is a very good team,” Merritt said.
Then Wilder jumps from the frying pan into the fire against defending regional champion Portland Baseball Club at 4 p.m. on Friday.
Then on Saturday at 1 p.m. Wilder will take on Yakima Pepsi Pak.
“Yakima is really, really good,” Merritt said.
On Sunday, Wilder will have a crossover game against a team with the same record in the other pool.
In the meantime, Wilder tuned up for the tournament by taking three from Aberdeen.
Wilder 8,
Aberdeen 4
Wilder jumped out to an 8-0 lead after two innings and never looked back in Saturday’s first game.
A.J. Konopaski (1-2) picked up his first win by giving up just one earned run while striking out seven and walking none in the seven-inning game.
Kyler Morgan went 1-for-2 at the plate with two RBIs, two runs scored and two walks while both Easton Napiontek and Cole Uvila had two-RBI doubles each and scored a run each.
Wilder 14,
Aberdeen 1
Wilder went ahead 7-0 before Aberdeen scored once in the fourth inning.
Five runs in the top of the sixth put the game out of reach for Wilder.
Napiontek (1-1) pitched the first five innings, giving up the one run while fanning six batters, walking just one and allowing only six hits.
Crain threw the final inning, giving up just a hit.
Cody Sullivan of Port Angeles went 3-for-3, scoring four runs while walking twice and having a two-RBI double.
Morgan went 3-for-4 with two runs and a two-RBI double while Napiontek went 2-for-3 and Uvila knocked in two runs.
Chimacum’s Austin McConnell went 3-for-4 with a double and RBI.
Wilder 9,
Aberdeen 1
In Sunday’s game, Wilder went ahead 5-0 after two innings and gave up just one run in the third.
McConnell (1-2) threw the first five innings, striking out seven while walking none and giving up just one earned run and five hits.
Uvila pitched the last two innings with a strikeout and a walk.
Sullivan scored two runs and had an two-RBI double while Morgan had an RBI-triple and scored a run.
Napiontek went 2-for-2 with two RBIs while Marcus Konopaski was 3-for-4, scoring three runs.
Saturday Game 1
Wilder 8, Aberdeen 4
Wilder 3 5 0 0 0 0 0 — 8 6 4
Aberdeen 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 — 4 6 4
WP- A.J. Konopaski (1-2)
Pitching Statistics
Wilder: Konopaski 7IP, 4R, 1ER, 6H, 7K, 0BB.
Hitting Statistics
Wilder: Morgan 1-2, 2RBIs, 2R, 2BB; Napiontek 1-3, 2B, 2RBIs, R; Uvila 1-4, 2B, 2 RBIs, R.
Saturday Game 2
Wilder 14, Aberdeen 1
Wilder 3 2 1 1 2 5 x — 14 15 0
Aberdeen 0 0 0 1 0 0 x — 1 7 2
WP- Napiontek (1-1)
Pitching Statistics
Wilder: Napiontek 5IP, 1ER, 6H, 6K, 1BB; Crain 1IP, 1H.
Hitting Statistics
Wilder: Morgan 3-4, 2RBIs, 2B, 2R; Sullivan 3-3, 4R, 2B, 2RBIs, 2BB; Napiontek 2-3, RBI, R, BB, HBP; Uvila 2-4, 2 RBIs, R; McConnell 3-4, 2B, RBI, R.
Sunday
Wilder 9, Aberdeen 1
Wilder 2 3 0 1 0 3 0 — 9 10 0
Aberdeen 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 — 1 5 4
WP- McConnell (1-2)
Pitching Statistics
Wilder: McConnell 5IP, 1ER, 5H, 7K, 0BB; Uvila 2IP, 1K, 1BB.
Hitting Statistics
Wilder: Morgan 2-4, RBI, 3B, R; Sullivan 1-3, 2R, 2B, 2RBIs; Napiontek 2-2, 2RBIs, BB, HBP; M. Konopaski 3-4, 3R.